The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 111 - The Emu War (Live in Australia)
Episode Date: September 2, 2015Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds with guest Lindsay Webb examine the Emu War. SOURCES TOUR DATES REDBUBBLE MERCH...
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it's awkward because the mics are not because I was gonna we're gonna have a
thank you for understanding sir he gets it oh there we go that ended the
Gary chant real fast I was like they got shot with a trinket dart or something
they all Dave how you doing you're not acclimating while it feels like I had
just about an hour ago I realized that might be a jet lagged I took like a
little nap because we got into this morning I took a little nap at the
hotel and I woke up and I literally had no fucking idea where I was for like a
minute and I was like you'll get this piece it together brother you got this
use your clues you guys seem hot it's hot I'm gonna fuck up every single name
in your goddamn country just so you know there's one story I'm gonna read and
this tour that has like a thousand names in it's just gonna be a fucking
nightmare don't worry though it's not about brisplane just you people you pee
be yellow eyes Wimbledon but it's a great town by the way what a fun Wimbledon
but it has some great people salt of the earth ladies and gentlemen welcome to
the dollop
this is our first time in Brisbane it's nice to be here it's actually a nice
place everyone else talk shit about you and the rest of the country what's their
problem yeah what the fuck you're not stupid I don't even know what they say
I can't remember I don't know if that's it but it's always nice to hear you're
not stupid no you guys aren't dumb come on
ladies and gentlemen I'd like to bring out our guests tonight's guest is a
hometown favorite ladies and gentlemen Lindsay when you can just look at that
monitor up there we've been watching ourselves on the telly yeah it's a fun
watch yeah it's cool I'm excited is that all yeah that's the end of it but it
went really good you were money that was awesome thank you guys really in 1950
right into it yep shout into it after World War one the Australian
government at a difficult time finding employment for soldiers returning home
okay starting in 1915 they started a soldier settlement scheme in every
state so they were trying to they call it a scheme that's a red flag it was in
quotes when I found it so couldn't this be a program yeah yeah no no no it's a
pyramid plan trust it gets so fucked at the end of this great scheme I mean plan
I mean plan sorry I keep calling a scheme sorry I keep calling a scheme like a
crook we originally going to call it a shit house didn't think anyone at
sign up for that not a lot of people signed up for the shit house so they
started giving soldiers land so they could start farming because they couldn't
find jobs anywhere else but the time was does sound great they'd given 5,030
veterans a plot of land which they were to farm that's nice and crops needed
for wheat and then they needed sheep wait by September 1920 the government began
to run out of land to give it to them and started looking to some rather remote
not so great areas near Perth is your mom so I'm sure a lot of your buddies are
saying they got a great plot of land and they did anyway how about this swamp you
feel like you and the wife can maybe make a home out here how do you feel they're
all going there's no swamps near Perth
that's just otherwise that was pretty good yeah than that if the reality cop
wasn't here busting me but right now they're all like this is gonna be a long
night I've done my homework there's swamps there's a swamp there's a swamp
I'm actually building one to validate this moment and really has anyone been
to Perth what does that yell out if you've been to Perth see that many they
get caught up in the swamp can't get back there's a bunch more like go to the
show without us it's too deep and real and in Perth and in Perth for sure
learning how to farm on a decent plot of land is very difficult but doing it on
crappy land is much more difficult and then the Great Depression hit in
1929 and wheat prices collapsed what about sheep
sheep prices shot through the fucking roof you want to buy sheep now sell your
wheat I'm telling you sheep are gonna be hot sheep are the new week guys so so
we're clear on how to invest on top of the Great Depression there was a giant
bird problem that's a problem because of all the week a problem a problem what
defined problem yeah a lot of birds is one thing but a bird problem a giant
bird problem so wait they were actually it wasn't it wasn't a huge problem it
was giant birds were the issue yes even tastier it's all the week these birds
are too big from the weight tens of thousands of emus yeah that's it
that's it you've nailed it right that's exactly it right the emu one bit my
hand wants remember me in you in you in here
here we go at the word yeah no Dave I've got it I just listen it's very I'm
from another country hi you know people don't land here knowing how to say
everything you know I'd be your brother in this moment if it weren't for that
swamp moment it's called the Swimp in you tens of thousands of
years getting very nice had lived on that land and they wanted to keep living
there instincts a motherfucker huh until recently emus had been a protected
native species but by then they become such a problem for wheat farms because
they're eating the crops or just sitting on them and flattening them but in
their defense they're fucking birds like we were just talking about how hungry
we were that makes a lot of sense oh my god it's also a good bed it's a buffet
it is it's a buffet you can lay in when you're done it's a Shays buffet I thought
they had one of those in Vegas and it was a regular buffet more mortifying it
was mortifying yeah just there so they were reclassified from the protected
species to be vermin they were considered vermin by the opposite of a
Cinderella story that's a long way each way isn't it yeah they went to the
opposite side yeah you guys are great you fucking piece of shit nobody touch
them get them that's my ancestor he's insane it's still not real you know
someone'll say it's still not real in the future but they're wrong well that's
just happened by 1932 there are 20,000 emus tearing shit up wow the veterans
who were just trying to get by were being ruined so they began killing them
what a shit lot for a veteran you've been at war with an enemy you get this
block of land back home that's full of fucking enemy you know like a cartoon
like they were like enemy heads on the emus at times again on the bluff get
him whatever guys I don't I don't if you think I need your validation that was
awkward for me you're wrong we don't need you we do this alone in a house with
echoes yeah we're no one reacts all right all right all right all right Dave
Dave's still a little spicy from 107 good he's not good no veterans began
killing the emus but they just kept coming am I saying it right emus emu
yeah that's emu all right yeah it was like they were the Michael Myers of
birds I put a little joke in that nice that's adorable yeah I like that you
put the little b2b to about doing a little jump yeah there's a second
parentheses it's like explain the joke explain the fun Dave do you see I put
a little joke in there leave that man alone Dave they put bounties on each
beak what just on the beak yep well you didn't want to drag the whole fucking
giant thing over it's a giant bird it's like nine feet tall just cut off the
beak and you go here but there could there have potentially been a guy who
was just like beak slicing and then other guys that kill emus it'd be like oh
no it's gonna buy it now he's beakless are you saying yeah yeah are you saying
you think there's a guy out there yeah yeah smart genius a swamp genius to to
cut the beaks off of live birds and then set them free I don't know I'm not
killing I'm not saying I'm not cutting the beaks off a dead bird I'm not I'm not
saying he set them free Dave you're having fun I'm not saying he's doing he
cuts the beak off it doesn't give a fuck he rolls he does the beacon roll he's
beacon he's rolling come on buddy
I'm with you now and yet the emus kept coming the veterans needed more
ammunition so they asked the military for help back on the job yeah this is not
retirement they see them putting the camo on the gear what it is a new war
they they brought the military in so yes there is a war against emus birds
sitting on wheat
damn them and damn them to hell so they asked the military to come in and kill
the emus and the military loved the idea because they were like for PR reasons
it's gonna look like we're doing something to help us juggling vets well
I mean really that seems crazy what do you mean army defeats bird you're like
damn right we did you don't fuck with us now the ducks will know yeah take that
ducks it wasn't another way that's the best that was the only way or drop a
nuke on Perth what about the swamp the swamp will be fine Lindsay the swamp will
survive the humans might not the swamp November 2nd 1932 yep I put the second
after November thank you thank you every things will also be done in in gallons
and pounds and miles because I'm American that's the attitude you guys
have fallen in love with right so along came major GPW Meredith of the 7th
heavy battery of the Royal Australian artillery wow that didn't fuck around
with reserve they went straight to the fucking big shit general Meredith the
fucking job of the base you're remembering it says oh do I he's the one
who carried the handbag right general Meredith ma'am sir sorry
hello hi Meredith are you ready to get the emus look at my big guns his eye
throw candy at them he had come to the district of Campion hey what sure did
someone say sure all right whatever to mow down 50 birds the military approach
the birds in formation 50 50 birds and they approach them in formation massive
sock puppets got the fucking army gentlemen they're buying into it they're
gonna try to meet get ready they're gonna try to meet scouts and slingshots
could have done this job the emus said saw them and ran in a mad fucking
scramble in every direction fly yeah which made it very difficult to shoot
them true and yet the army was victorious in its
battle yeah 50 birds yeah the war was not over oh no two days later some
soldiers saw a thousand emus close by and they were like oh shit they're talking
they pardon the pun but they're tweeting about this they are this is clear
they sat and waited for the birds to come close when they were finally at point
blank range they started shooting their weapons 10 emus fell dead yeah and then
the machine gun jammed oh you've got a love is 990 left
they're angry now those are the 10 friends their 10 friends are dead put
your bayonets on gentlemen that is gotta be such a great fucking moment when
you're like this is hilariously fun what do you mean a jam sweet god they're
pissed again the emus made a break for it in every direction stick into what
worked this battle the army had failed one loss one win one of the recruits said
the emus have proved they are not so stupid as they are usually considered
to be each mob has a leader always an enormous black pump plump bird standing
fully six feet high who keeps watch why his fellows busy themselves with the
wheat that's a metaphor for sure you know what they're doing to the wheat yeah
I'm suggesting the emus jacked up at the first suspicious sign he gives the
signal and dozens of heads stretch out for the crop out of the crop a few birds
will take fright starting a headlong stampede for the scrub the leader always
remaining until his followers have reached safety sounds a lot like the
Taliban bird Laden if you think about it those nine people are on board so next
the army tried to keep the fight mobile by shooting at birds with machine
jump guns in the back of trucks how the fuck is this taking so long like one
get one gun jammed you're better than that right now into the eye team they
were actually emus they're like we weren't emus the whole time yeah that's
right I won't get on no plane but it's apparently very hard to be moving in a
truck and try to shoot a quick-moving bird eventually one bird got himself
stuck under the truck and caught in the steering equipment or was he a genius
bird the truck jerked off its path and plowed into half a length of a farmer's
fence round three to the birds wow shocking results report yeah bookies
like god damn it I did not see that happening boy from a newspaper on
November 8th it was reported that major Marist Party had used 2,500 rounds of
ammunition fuck 25% of the allotted total to destroy 200 emus they could have
fucking shot down a house a quarter of their ammo 10 bullets in a new South
Wales labor politician inquired whether a medal was to be struck for those taking
part in this war what everyone's like get the fuck out of here get out you're
done what are you gonna find a bird it sounds like a fucking mind-up story
welcome to the dollop his federal counterpart in Western Australia
responded that they should rightly go to the emus who have won every round so far
no fucking way there is a guy who they want to William Wallace the emus emus
hello you fought valiantly you like you to eat then another campaign against the
large flightless bird was begun so wait they didn't send someone to negotiate
with the birds look we both have things we want and I think we get that we all
love wheat start there you like wheat what about you don't lay in it you know
they're not even listening sir so I'd say this time again major Meredith on the
13th of November 1932 began the new battle 40 of the goddamn birds were
killed two days later the major was back and he managed to kill pretty much
none second 16 years less than 300 birds down this fucking ridiculous I mean the
birds are winning a real bad I laugh it in the week major Meredith was not going
to give up soon reports were flowing in that a hundred emus were being
killed every week every fucking week well major Meredith took a look at how
many bullets were being used and how many birds are being killed and he was
our fun realize it took ten bullets to kill one emu yeah he called that yeah
listen back historian math guy over there we brought him in for the math so
they could just take a bunch of bullets and keep going it just wouldn't take
one bullet to take an emu so they are hitting them it's just that they're
gigantic bird yeah they're psychotic they all are Michael Myers yeah not the
unherald not the Austin Powers one the awesome powers one okay yeah baby makes
me stronger baby oh god it's time shoot it yeah it's they're all doing awesome
powers of pressure get them now kill them every single one of them's doing
boron kill them all get them all now fuck that once you want to think with
its pinky from the Sun Herald July 5th 1953 if we had a military division with
the bullet carrying capacity of these birds it would face any army in the
world wow they can face machine guns with the infill and infill their ability
of tanks
birds they can't be stopped shows you where they were at like seriously the
problem is you can only carry one soldier per emu you can put heaps of
soldiers in a tank yeah that is true has anybody tried to put a bunch of
soldiers in an emu yeah right guy was he's like it's the only way to do it
I'm biblwack we could fit nine if they're not breathing sir Senate Senate
centipede for yeah what did you do with the money we gave you I sewed them to
the birds asshole what was the plan oh that's what the grant was for that's
interesting can we start again so it's hard to unstitch do you know what I mean
it's hard to uncentipede is what I'm saying it's not easy you can't
dissentipede it's more of a commitment isn't it yeah
you are centipeded do you want to be uncentipeded what are you gonna do you're
gonna hit the fucking talk show circuit look well Oprah
I can't get the taste out I shit myself again there's not enough gum
Oprah there's not enough gum and then they cut the commercial everyone check
under your seat there's gum
it's from last week chewed gum I should be clear we're asking you to clean the
seats sorry well here here's the here's the great great end to this Sun
Herald quote they are like Zulus whom even dumb dumb bullets could not stop well
let's just throw in some horrible racism that's terribly right this reporter
what's this bird paragraph missing I know horrible racism the editor was like I
love what I'm hearing is there any way to throw a racial dig at the end they got
feathers like Zulus so the major was recalled the emu war was over the birds
were victorious married it's lost yes what if they were just a bunch of birds
in the crowd or was it no it was not it was time for gorilla warfare they're
gonna put gorillas in the gorillas they drop gorillas from planes oh no
they're forming an animal unit the gorillas are riding them the government
gave it's working oh no they're taking over the girls are taking over the
planet jesus why did we ride the emus they said in the last plan of the 8th
movie
government gave ammunition to the locals to deal with the emus well just to
everybody now yeah everybody's a soldier over six months in 1934 57,000
emus were killed jesus this is 18 years later this is a fucking movie just one
guy out there bad bandana on just in the middle of the emus John what are you
staring at emus there's no emus there honey there are in my eyes there will be
if we don't stop them the next 30 years waking up
big big big John it was just a dream again it was just one of your dream so big
you had a wet emu so big you're okay baby you're okay you're here with me
now an emu and then he wakes up again he's like a double dream I tried to earn
emu the emus now protected animal again they are about 600,000 running about but
they are still going to be ganged up 600,000 there's 600,000 now in your fucking
country wow they keep quiet what are you wouldn't you keep quiet at this point
they're like don't talk waiting they're having meetings I don't see them at
here tall ones still there like the big one wait guys we're almost there one
million and we hit Sydney for now we keep fucking for now we sit on the wheat
we haven't fuck but they're still in danger due to encroaching human activity
which means some do the war with the emus may be on again no treaties have
ever been signed that's the emu war I had to do it
people kept saying to me and I was like it's too small but I figured well thank
you very much for having us we appreciate it you guys are fantastic thank
you so much